Lockable hinged handle for containers



July 8, 1958 c. F. MURPHY LOCKABLE HINGED HANDLE FOR CONTAINERS INVENTOR CZZLZPZQS FMurpky Filed 001:. 9, 1956 Qyawm 2,841,814 Patented July 8, 1958 ice LOCKABLE HINGED HANDLE FOR CONTAINERS Charles F. Murphy, Natick, Mass., assignor to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army Application October 9, 1956, Serial No. 614,782

1 Claim. (Cl. 16--110) (Granted under Title 35, U. S. Code (1952), sec. 266) The invention described herein, if patented, may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental. purposes, without the payment to me or any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to an improvement in hinged handles for containers and more particularly to an improved means for releasably locking such handles in an operative position.

in spite of the many technical advances in the art of warfare, conventional cooking utensils remain a vital part of military equipment. In particular, the use of pressure cookers has been found to provide great advantages in cooking under the conditions of extreme cold and lack of water which are encountered in Arctic and Antarctic regions. However, the present concepts of highly mobile warfare dictate that the weight and size of essential equipment be kept at an absolute minimum. Extensions and protuberances which would interfere with compactness and ease of packing and transporting equipment must be eliminated wherever possible. With this in mind, pressure cookers and other similar containers have been provided with collapsible handles which are adapted to be selectively placed in an extended or operative position or in a depending or inoperative position generally parallel to and adjacent to the wall of the container.

The conventional collapsible handle is hinged to the container body or a suitable bracket affixed thereto so as to be swingable between the extended or operative position and a depending inoperative position. The handle is biased to this latter position either by gravity or by a torsion springwhich affords the additional advantage of preventing undesired swinging of the handle and consequent rattling during transport. The handle is held in the operative position by a keeper in the form of a sleeve which is freely slidable on the handle to and from a position at which portions of both the handle and the handle bracket in the area of the hinge joint are overlapped by the sleeve. Conventionally the keeper is retained in the overlapping or operative position by frictional engagement with the spring or gravity biased handle, and is slidably retractable from this position to a non-overlapping position so as to free the handle for swinging movement to its, depending inoperative position under the influence of the torsion spring'or gravity.

Experience in the normal use of pressure cookers or like containers having a handle of the type just described has shown that the keeper becomes accidentally disengaged from the hinge overlapping position relatively frequently in the absence of some means for positively locking the same in operative position, and this usually happens when the cooker or other container is being handled or is about to be lifted by its handle. .As a

result, the body of the pressure cooker or other container tips causing the contents to be spilled and thus wasted. Since there is always a possibility of the contents being spilled on the user of the device or others in his immediate vicinity, serious injury due to burning may occur if the contents of the cooker or other container are hot. In view of the need for avoiding waste, particularly under Arctic conditions, the ever present hazards to users of hinged-handle pressure cookers devoid of means to lock the same in operative position, and the extent to which these pressure cookers or the like were inadequate for their intended purposes, the important advance in the art which the present invention represents will be realized.

Accordingly an important object of this invention is to provide a new and improved means for positively locking a hinged handle of the type described in operative position.

Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved positive lock for a hinged handle of simplifled construction so as to be easily releasable by the user even under adverse climatic conditions and when hampered by bulky hand coverings.

A further object of this invention is to provide a new and improved positive lock for a hinged handle having a resilient latch which is biased toward locking positiOil so as automatically to lock when the parts are moved to operative position.

A further object of this invention is to provide a new and improved positive lock for a hinged handle which includes a minimum of movable parts with a concomitant reduction in the possibility of mechanical failures.

Other objects, capabilities and advantages of this invention will become apparent during the courseof the following description wherein reference is made to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this application in which like numerals are used to designate like parts throughout the same, and in which:

Figure l is a fragmentary, central, vertical section of a covered pressure cooker which embodies a hinged handle improved in accordance with the present invention aiiixed to the body thereof and a conventional hinged handle affixed to the cover thereof,

Figure 2 is a fragmentary plan view of a hinged handle embodying the present invention affixed to a container body with a portion of the keeper broken away to show the hinge joint and the handle biasing means,

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary section of the handle hinge joint and the handle biasing means,

Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view of the conventional hinged handle shown afiixed to the pressure cooker cover in Figure l, and

Figure 5 is an exploded perspective view of a hinged handle of the type affixed to the body of the pressure cooker in Figure 1 and embodying the present invention.

Referring more particularly to the drawings wherein for the purpose of illustration a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown, the improved handle structure of the present invention designated in its entirety by the numeral It is shown attached to the body 11 of a covered pressure cooker fragmentarily shown in Figure 1. This handle structure comprises a bracket 12, a handle body 13, a keeper or sleeve 14, a locking member or latch 15', a hinge pin 16, and a biasing means 17.

Referring to Figure 5, it will be seen that the bracket 12, which is preferably formed from a unitary piece of sheet metal, includes a generally channel shaped portion having a web 13 and opposed flanges i9 and an angularly bent portion 20 conformed to the external surface of the body 11 of the pressure cooker. The opposed flanges 19 extend outwardly beyond the web to form hinge knuckles 21 which are provided with opposed apertures adapted to receive the hinge pin 16. The bracket 12 is fixedly secured to the cooker body 11 by riveting or otherwise suitably securing the angularly bent portion 24) to the side wall of the container (Figures 1 and 2).

The handle body 13, which is also formed from lightweight generally channel shaped sheet metaL'has flanges at one end'thereof projecting beyond the body of the handle to form apertured hinge knuckles 22. The handle is provided with a keeper retaining stop 23 which is preferably of generally channel or inverted U-shape affixed to the handle adjacent its free end to provide a stop for limiting outward sliding movement of the keeper and for a purpose to be described. The handle 13 is pivotally secured to the hinge knuckles 21 on bracket 12 by means of the hinge pin 16 which is retained in the position shown in Figures 2 and 3 by a sleeve 24 pressfitted upon the pin 16 to limit endwise movement thereof. The handle biasing means 17 comprising a torsion spring having tangential extensions 25 at each end thereof is positioned around the sleeve 24, one of said extensions engaging bracket 12 and the other engaging a por- The spring 17 is stressed tion of handle 13 (Figure 1). upon assembly to bias the handle 13 to its depending inoperative position.

The keeper 14 comprises a sleeve preferably formed of sheet metal and dimensioned freely to slide lengthwise of the body of the handle but snugly to encompass the same. Preferably the keeper is provided with a friction surface 26 for ease of operation by the user. The keeper 14 has a portion of one side thereof pressed or struck inwardly to form a projecting abutment 27 normal to the side out of which it is struck and facing the rear or free end of the handle and a forwardly facing inclined face 28 as best seen in Figure 1 for a purpose to be described. This struck-in portion of the keeper projects inwardly far enough so that the inclined face 23 is in a position to engage the surface of the torsion spring 17 to limit movement of the keeper 14 toward the cooker body 11. At this limit in its movement, the keeper 14 overlaps or bridges the hinge joint to prevent swinging movement of the handle 13. In effect, in the construction above described a telescopic relation exists between the fixed handle bracket 12, the handle 13 and the keeper 14.

The locking member or latch 15 comprises a flat leaf spring which is fixed at one end to the web of the handle 13 and has a free end 29 inclined and biased outwardly of the web and extending toward the hinged end of the handle. The free end 29 of this biased latch 15 rides up the inclined face 28 of the pressed out portion of the keeper 14 and snaps into engagement with the abutment 27 when the keeper is moved along the handle 13 to the handle locking position shown in Figure 1.

In this latter view a hinged handle 30 is shown affixed to the cover 31 of the pressure cooker. In some cases it may be desirable to provide the locking feature on the handles for both the body and cover of a pressure cooker or the like, but in the interest of economy, it is not used on the cover handle of the pressure cooker disclosed herein, inasmuch as the inclusion of the locking device of this invention on the body handle provides all the protection needed to avoid accidental spilling of the contents of the pressure cooker. The cover handle 38 may be provided with one or more stops 32 similar to the stop 23 on the body handle 13. At least one of these stops should be located at a position to engage or abut upon the stop 23 on the body handle 13 for limiting converging bending of the handles 13 and 30 when the pressure cooker is lifted by these handles. In all other respects, handle 30 may be like handle 13 and it may be locked in operative postion by the same type of keeper as the keeper 14.

In the operation of the invention, after the handle 13 has been swung to operative position, the retainer sleeve or keeper 14 is slidably advanced toward the hinged end 4 of the handle. As the keeper 14 approaches the limit of its movement in this direction, i. e., the position shown in Figure l, the leaf spring latch 15 is progressively depressed by the inclined face 28, and upon arrival of the keeper at the position shown in Figure 1, the latch 15 snaps into position behind the abutment 27 locking the keeper against backward movement on the handle 13. It is locked against forward movement, due to the fact that the inclined face 28 is in a position to engage the torsion spring on the hinge pin 16. Thus the keeper is locked against both backward and forward sliding or telescopic movement from the position shown in Figure 1. In this position, the keeper 14 not only overlaps the hinge joint between the handle 13 and the bracket 12 but also overlaps the portions of the bracket and handle adjacent this hinge joint. The keeper 14 thus forms a rigid bridge across the hinge joint between the fixed handle bracket 12 and the swingable handle 13 rigidly but releasably to lock the handle 13 in operative position. When it is desired to release the handle for movement to inoperative position, this is easily done by depressing the biased latch 15 until it disengages the abutment 27 on the keeper which then may be slidably withdrawn from operative position.

It is to be understood that the form of the invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of the partsmay be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claim.

I claim:

A hinged handle for a container or the like having a handle mounting lug fixedly projecting therefrom and forming a support for handle hinging means including a hinge pin comprising an elongated sheet metal handleforming member of generally channel shape in transverse section mounted to swing freely on said hinge pin into and out of an operative position in substantially projecting alignment with said handle mounting lug, a sleevelike keeper dimensioned to be snugly received upon but slidable relatively freely in an endwise direction upon said handle and handle mounting lug and to overlap the hinge connection between said lug and said handle when the handle is disposed in operative position and the keeper is in a predetermined position of sliding adjustment rigidly to lock the handle in the said position, a stop lug struck inwardly from the body of said sleevelike keeper at a position in an endwise direction thereof to form an abutment one side of which is disposed to engage said handle hinging means for arresting sliding movement of said keeper in a direction carrying the keeper into overlapping relation with the handle mounting lug upon arrival of said keeper at handle locking position and an oppositely disposed side and a latch comprising an elongated leaf spring anchored at one end to the web of said channel-shaped handle at a point remote from the hinged end thereof, said leaf spring having a free end extending toward the said hinged end of said handle and being biased in a direction to engage the said oppositely disposed side of the stop lug on said keeper when the latter is in handle locking position to cooperate with said handle hinging means in preventing movement of the keeper from handle locking position, the range of movement of said free end being sufficient to permit disengagement of the same from said stop lug by the application of manual force.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 798,325 Daddysman Aug. 29, 1905 1,490,568 Koenig Apr. 15, 1924 1,906,218 Patchell Apr. 25, 1933 

